Chuck Liddell has been keeping himself rather busy, most recently with a charitable campaign wiht the folks at Bic; for those who may have missed it, part of the campaign involved Liddell shaving off his trademark Mohawk.

He recently conducted a questions and answers session with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Michael Rand and glossed over several topics,including the removal of his Mohawk, among others. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Q: Tell me more about this charitable work you are doing — how did you get involved with this?

A: They came to me and asked me to do it. I’ve never done anything quite like that, but my hair grows back pretty quick. … We just did it [Monday morning]. I’m walking around, and it looks funny to me. It’s going to take a little time to get used to. But it’s for a good cause, so it’s a good thing to do.

Q: You’re almost exactly the same age as a certain quarterback playing for the Vikings. There have been a lot of questions about your future. You have stated you are still deciding whether to compete. What factors will go into that decision?

A: It’s about how I feel and if I want to go back and make a run at a title and how far away that would be. And whatever I think is left in the tank. I’ve been doing PR stuff for the last couple months, and I’ll finally be home for the month. I’ll probably decide sometime in September, when I have time to relax.

Q: You won 20 of your first 23 career MMA bouts. Since 2007, though, the tables have turned with five losses in six bouts. Is there a part of you that feels like there’s something to prove?

A: I don’t feel like there’s anything left to prove. I still love fighting, but there’s a lot that goes into it. Maybe it might be time. I’m just not sure yet.

To view the rest of the interview with the Iceman, please click here.

Usually when a MMA event is scrambling to get a full card into place with a very small time window to get it done, that often can lead to a cancellation.

Fortunately for Shark Fights, they managed to get a full lineup of bouts in just under the gun as they signed a pair of fights just before the event’s scheduled date of September 11. The event in question, Shark Fights 13, will take place on September 11 at the Amarillo Civic Center Coliseum in Amarillo, TX.

The pair of bouts that were recently signed and announced on Sunday include Danillo Villefort taking on Joey Villasenor while Daniel Straus will go up against Karen Darabedyan.

Villefort’s claim to fame may be his two-fight stint in the UFC, where he TKO’d Mike Campbell at WEC 39 in January of 2009; he would then drop a decision to Jesse Lennox at UFC 101 via doctor’s stoppage. Since his release from the UFC, he has won a pair of consecutive bouts – one over Mike Massenzio while also defeating The Ultimate Fighter 11 contestant Clayton McKinney.

Meanwhile, Villasenor has reccently ended a four-fight win streak as he lost a unanimous decision to Ronaldo Souza at Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery.

Straus is on a current eight-bout win streak, with his most recent win coming at a Bellator Fighting Championship event, defeating Chad Hinton. On the flip side, Darabedyan is back with Shark after a three-bout stint with the WEC; his most recent action was under Shark as he defeated Estevan Payan at Shark Fights 6 in June 2009.

With the recent signings, Shark Fights 13 ia as follows:

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Eric Davila vs. Pete Spratt
• Karen Darabedyan vs. Daniel Straus
• Aaron Rosa vs. Devin Cole
• Paul Bradley vs. Johnny Reese
• Douglas Evans vs. Ronnie Mann

MAIN CARD

• Brock Larson vs. Tarec Saffiedine
• Danillo Villefort vs. Joey Villasenor
• Paul Daley vs. Jorge Masvidal
• Rameau Thierry Soukoudjou vs. Houston Alexander
• Trevor Prangley vs. Keith Jardine

A huge thanks goes out to Alexia at MMA Industries, who sent me this sweet Silver Star t-shirt. You can check out more of their MMA training equipment, other MMA clothing, and of course, other MMA shirts like this snazzy one.

Alexia is a sports/MMA writer for MMA Industries. You can follow her @AlexiaMMA.

Mike Straka sits down with Greg Jackson and Ross Pearson in a Fighting Words double-header. Jackson discusses his success training the biggest names in Mixed Martial Arts. Pearson, who made a splash on The Ultimate Fighter reality show, discusses the boom in fighters from the U.K., as well as what’s next for him.

DALLAS (September 2, 2010)  Assemblyman Bob Reilly is the man leading the charge against legalizing mixed martial arts in the state of New York, and tomorrow night on  ”Inside MMA,” the sport’s most vocal critic explains his opposition in Part One of an exclusive two-part interview.
 
“What attracts people to Ultimate Fighting unfortunately is the violence and violence is not good for our society,” Reilly says. “The difference between mixed martial arts and every other sport is that in mixed martial arts the purpose is to damage your opponent.”
 
A clip of Reilly’s comments is available at:
           
http://www.hd.net/insidemma.html
 
Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are joined on the panel this week by Randy and Ryan Couture and Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard, all who strongly disagree with Reilly’s statements. 
 
“I think it’s an uneducated view,” says Randy Couture. “He doesn’t understand our sport. We’re not crazy, we’re not dangerous, this is not violence, it’s a combative sport.”
 
Also on this week’s show, the Coutures discuss their respective recent victories in the cage, and Lombard talks about his upcoming title defense.
 
Plus, Ron Kruck has breaking news on a Bellator fighter who isn’t letting a recent diagnosis with leukemia keep him out of the gym, and the “Inside America’s Gyms” series continues with a look at the Grudge Training Center in Wheat Ridge, CO.

Fight Hub TV’s fight correspondent Marcos, spoke with Erik Paulson, one of Brock Lesnar’s coaches, multiple time Shooto champion and owner of CSW training facilities in Fullerton, CA. He talks what happened in between rounds during Lesnar’s fight with Carwin, what happened backstage and the challenges Cain Velasquez brings.

DALLAS (September 2, 2010)    HDNet will feature exclusive coverage of the “King of the Cage – No Mercy,” LIVE from the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Mashantucket, CT, Friday, September 17 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
 
The main event of the evening features reigning KOTC Champion Abel “The Silent Assassin” Cullum (21-3) taking on Jimmie Rivera (6-1) for the Flyweight Title.
 
The co-main event is a Super Heavyweight match-up between boxing legend, “Merciless” Ray Mercer (36-7-1 Boxing and 2-1 MMA) as he attempts to leverage his boxing skills against Ron Sparks (5-0).
 
“Can Merciless do it again?  No one thought he would beat former UFC Champion, Tim Sylvia… now people don’t know what to think as he fights undefeated Ron Sparks!” said Andrew Simon, CEO of HDNet Fights.
 
The event also features a battle between two undefeated submission experts when Sam Oropeza (4-0) faces Myles Jury (8-0).
 
Also on the KOTC card, Champion Donald Sanchez (21-10) attempts to defend his Bantamweight Title against Pat McGreal (6-0) and Welterweights square off when Jesus Martinez (4-0) takes on Chip Moraza Pollard (4-0).
 
155lb Noah Wiseman (4-1) also will go head to head with Sean Wilmont (7-4) in the swing bout.
 
HDNet’s live exclusive coverage starts at 9:00 p.m. ET on Friday, September 17.
 
Tickets are available at the box office and www.mgmatfoxwoods.com or 866.646.0609

DALLAS (September 1, 2010)  MMA coach Greg Jackson is the featured guest on “Fighting Words with Mike Straka,” this Friday, September 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET on HDNet, Your Home for MMA.

Jackson, who trains some of the biggest names in MMA, from UFC Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, to Light Heavyweight contender Rashad Evans to rising star Jon Jones, tells Straka that even though he is one of the best known coaches in the sport, it’s never about him.

“I’m there to help these guys achieve their dreams and come to their potential as fighters,” said Jackson. “The Octagon to me is nothing but a laboratory where I can test my ideas. You’re in this arms race against people…basically it’s a place where I get to evolve, get to figure things out and get to be a true artist.”

Jackson, known by many in MMA as “Yoda” or “The Maestro,” has been criticized recently for being too strategic, with some MMA observers pointing to Georges St. Pierre’s decision victory over Dan Hardy at UFC 112 and Rashad Evan’s decision over Rampage Jackson as examples of Jackson’s fighters fighting not to lose.

Jackson discusses his strategies for fighters with Straka, but also goes into his philosophy. “It’s not all about pragmatism,” says Jackson. “It’s not all ‘if I do A, B, C and D I’m going to win the fight.’  You have to have heart, you have to have fire… sometimes you have a broken hand, well, you have to have heart. This is a fight. You have to hit him with the hand,” said Jackson.

An exclusive preview clip for the show can be seen at:

http://blog.hdnetfights.com/post/1043282180/fighting-words-greg-jackson

Also on this week’s episode, British fighter Ross Pearson, who takes on Cole Miller at UFC Fight Night 22 on September 15 talks about the evolution of Mixed Martial Arts in England, and his journey through the ranks of the UFC Lightweight division.
 
“Fighting Words with Mike Straka” airs this Friday night, September 3, 2010 at 8:30 p.m. ET on HDNet.

The home of the Detroit Pistons will get the opportunity to host a UFC event in November.

That’s the word, according to UFC president Dana White, as he broke the news to MMAFighting.com; the deal was finalized on Wednesday morning.

UFC 123 will officially take place on November 20 from The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, MI (a suburb of Detroit) and will have a main event bout featuring Lyoto Machida and Quinton Jackson.

Machida is looking to rebound from his recent loss to Mauricio Rua back in May while Jackson is coming off a loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 114.

In this edition of HDNet Fights Video Vault, Jorge Santiago puts his middleweight belt on the line when he takes on Kazuo Misaki at Sengoku Raiden Champonships 14, which took place in Japan.

Does Santiago hang into the belt? Or does Misaki pull off the upset in this five-round affair? ONly one way to find out – click the video!